A grand meeting and biggest-ever parade was held at Ba Dinh Square on October 10 to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The meeting was attended by Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, State President Nguyen Minh Triet, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Huynh Dam, and Secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi along with former senior State and Party leaders.

Ambassadors, representatives from international organisations in Vietnam, centrally-run ministries, sectors and media agencies plus heroic mothers, revolutionary veterans, armed forces and labour heroes, and almost 40,000 people and soldiers representing millions of others in and outside the country also joined the event.

The celebration honoured the armed forces and highlighted the tremendous achievements Hanoi and the country have recorded during 1,000 years of history, national construction and development, and during the Doi Moi (Renewal) process in which Hanoi has been honoured as a capital city of peace and friendship.

To begin the celebration, a torch was lit at Hanoi’s Millennial Anniversary cauldron. The torch symbolises eternal vitality of the Vietnamese nation and the flame of Ho Chi Minh’s thoughts which has lit the revolutionary path towards the goal of a prosperous people living in a powerful country with a just, democratic and civilised society.

Party and State leaders, along with the delegates, saluted the national flag while the military band played the national anthem and 21 canons fired a salvo.

In his speech, President Triet extended his best wishes and sincere thanks to people across the country, overseas Vietnamese and international friends for their special sentiments towards Hanoi on its 1000th grand anniversary.

1,000 years ago, in the autumn of 1010, King Ly Thai To issued the royal edict to transfer the capital from Hoa Lu to Thang Long, opening up a glorious period of development for the capital.

From that historic milestone to the Ho Chi Minh era, over 1,000 years of ups and downs, Thang Long-Hanoi has maintained its assured posture and indomitable spirit, deserving to be the heart of the whole country, he said.

“The 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi gave us a chance to highlight the noble traditional values and priceless heritage of our ancestors and express our deep gratitude to those who founded the country as well as President Ho Chi Minh, revolutionary veterans, and heroic martyrs who laid down their lives for national independence and freedom,” Triet said.

“We are responsible for preserving and upholding the ancestors’ traditions and raising them to a new level in the Ho Chi Minh era,” he further said.

President Triet called on the whole population to unite and use energy, brain power and talent to build Hanoi into a civilised, modern and beautiful capital capable of keeping pace with other cities in the world.

Following President Triet’s speech, there was a grand parade with ten helicopters flying above carrying the Party and National flags and banners saying “The 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi”.

The parade, the biggest of its kind, attracted the participation of representatives from different groups, including the army, war veterans, the youth, workers, farmers, intellectuals, State employees, entrepreneurs, religions, women and overseas Vietnamese.

The celebration concluded with art performance by 2,000 artists and actresses and with release of balloons and doves into the sky above historic Ba Dinh square./.